Toutsuite

Hi Saffa, I live in SE London but enjoy riding around the Surrey Hills on a nice day!

Whenever I travel abroad, I never fly Virgin. They don't go all the way. Badum-tish!

I think you'll find that's Beeth...aaaargh, ninjad!

Hey Bipps, yes it seems I got the age wrong, must have misread somewhere that he was 22. As far as the divide between drivers and bikers, I'm not too optimistic, given the kinds of comments I've seen from drivers on other sites, confidently stating that because David was speeding he had it coming to him and was entirely his fault; effectively saying, "if you speed, I'm entitled to kill you". Plus all the crap about all bikers being dicks, and other such generalisations by internet mouthoffs. O'brien, you're right that a collision at 40 is survivable (most of the time), but the speed limit on a good stretch of A road is usually 60.

If it was solely the riders fault, why did the driver of the car get convicted and his license suspended for 18 months? Sure, the kid was going stupidly, suicidally quick, but he still had right of way. A couple of thoughts: no 22 year old should be allowed anywhere near a bike that powerful. Unless they're a professional racer. At 22, no one has a sufficiently developed sense of their own mortality. Same reason why they shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel of a lambo or ferrari, irrespective of how rich daddy is. On the other end of the Stupid spectrum we have the driver of the car. Now suppose the bike had been going at or a bit above the speed limit for that road - 60 to 70mph. How survivable is being T-boned at those speeds? Certainly more than at 97mph, but not much more. So we had the confluence of the kind of stupidity that gets oneself killed, with the kind of stupidity that gets others killed. The car driver cannot be absolved from this, and in reality wasn't, as the verdict shows.

Anyone thinking of going? Party on Saturday evening 6pm to midnight, ride down to Brighton on Sunday.

How about Avons? Lots of cruiser riders round here swear by 'em, myself included.

Hmmm, 1 light second = 299,792,458 metres, or 299,792,458,000 mm. Divide 25.4mm (1inch) by that and you get: 0.00000000008472528...etc. The 8 is on the 11th decimal place. I used windows calculator, and wiki's entry on the length of the Ls.

Have to agree: looks shit, dangerous and almost certainly fucks up the handling. Ya see all of these mods for cruisers - lowering kits, raking kits, anything that messes with the setup of the bike, is for those american boulevard, traffic light to traffic light riders, who don't do twisties. They just parade up and down the straight roads outside shopping malls. And if that's your thang, well, good luck, what with livin' in Scotland and all... (Lots of WET twisty roads - you WILL need luck!)

Yes I like winding OCD sufferers up! Altough, you appear to be 3 orders of magnitude out on the last one. (and yes since I checked that make me one as well!)

25.4mm? What's that in furlongs? Angstroms? Light seconds?

Hi mate, the stock handlebars on the draggie are 1 inch diameter.

Yep, neutral switch mate. Easy and cheap to fix. http://ziariderblog.com/2012/02/v-star-650-neutral-switch-oil-leak-fix/

Fowlers. Google it. They do online ordering now.

See my response to your thread in the bar. It's prob the neutral switch.

Hi there, if the 125 is anything like the 650, your leak is most likely coming from the neutral switch assembly, either the switch itself or the O-ring has gone. It's located near the stand (at least on the 650 it is). Replace both. Cheap fix. Lean the right side of the bike against a wall or something and you won't even have to drain the oil. You'll just get a blob of it while replacing the switch. Best of luck.

See if you can mount the new reg/rec somewhere at the front of the bike, exposed to airflow. It shouldn't be hidden away like that, it needs airflow to keep cool, hence the fins. Don't know why yamaha chose to do that on the 1100. If you need a new stator, check M&P m/cycles, that's where I found my stator replacement for the 650 (from electrosport) - quite a bit cheaper then OEM.

Methinks this guy used up all his good luck for his life right there...

Thanks meatloaf. Camps, I got em from customcruisers.com, but I think u can get em much cheaper on eBay. Just do a search for motorbike saddlebags, and scroll down till ya see them.

Well it doesn't have a big rusty nail sticking out the middle of it, so didn't think it would appeal to ya! :-)

Tested it this past Saturday riding around Surrey. Although firmer than the stock, it has that lower back support, so I can ride longer. It's comfy enough once you get used to it. It sits you lower and further front - the crown jewels practically resting on the tank! But then you lean back on that gelled arch and with the vibes of the engine, you get a nice massage!

One more:

Ok so I thought I'd post some pics of the latest modification on my draggie; thought I'd treat myself (and her) after the major operation of new stator and new reg/rec! Stock seat is ok but has no lower back support whatever, So obvious choice would be the mustang seat, but that is 1) stupidly expensive and 2) more suited looks wise to a classic than a custom - too plush. Undoubtedly comfy though... So after a bit of searching around I found the Profiler seat from Saddlemen, all the way from 'Murika. Ordered it from Motorcycle Superstore based in California, £210 delivered.

Yes.

Agree, the draggie tank totally "makes" the bike, its shape is just perfect! Don't think there's another cruiser below 1000cc with a nicer tank (except maybe the 950, which is different but as nice). And he wasn't a typical Harley boy (they're bad enough), he was a wannabe typical Harley boy. Off the scale of sad wankerdom.